Operational Support Officer

Job summary

One of the highest priorities for the Civil Service is improving commercial capability across Government, a priority which is being driven by the Commercial Capability team which sits in the Cabinet Office/Government Commercial Function (GCF).

One of the key services which the Commercial Capability supports is the Government Commercial Organisation (GCO). The GCO People Services team recruits, retains, develops and grows senior commercial talent, helping to drive commercial best practice and improved commercial outcomes. Within the Commercial Capability team, we have other pillars to support Capability in various different ways; Transformation, Enablement, Infrastructure and Operations (TEIO), Partnerships and Faculty. All teams work together to ensure there are high quality services and support for those who are in the GCO, as well as those in the GCF who require development in Commercial or Contract Management.

The Commercial Capability team enables commercial and contract management professionals within central government departments and the wider public sector to enhance their expertise, skills and capabilities through the provision of training and development, advice and guidance. It also supports the Government Commercial Organisation.

The Business Operations team works at the heart of the Commercial Capability Programme: sitting in the Faculty pillar, Business Operations provides operational support and expertise to deliver training designed by our faculty team for Commercial and Contract Managers. The team was established to provide underlying logistical and operational support before, during and after delivery to the highest possible standards. High performing and highly successful, the team take pride in delivering reliable and consistent learning and development events and training, ensuring customer focus remains at the core of every process and collaborating with teams within Commercial Capability to continuously improve our services.

Job description

The Operational Support Officer is responsible for ensuring all business-as-usual (BAU), logistical support activities are carried out efficiently and effectively with a strong customer service focus. A key focus of the role is ensuring that all GCF Virtual Training events run to the very highest of standards, including supporting participants undertaking their Assessment and Development Centre (ADC), a full-day assessment process. Please note this is not a generalist administration role: it is a support officer role with administrative duties.

The Operational Support Officer role is an operational delivery role. The expectation is that individual/s will either have an expected level of operational experience/expertise in line with the grade of the role, or are looking to develop their skills within an operational space with the view to potentially progress their career within the Operational Delivery Profession. Full training and development will be provided through a comprehensive induction and ongoing training plan.

Key Responsibilities

On a day-to-day basis, there is an expectation that a combination of the following duties would be required. These are distributed through tasks set by the Deputy Operations Manager.

• 80% of the role holder's activities will be directed at BAU,
• Executing a combination of manual processes and duties using the Government Commercial College, our Learning Management System (LMS).
• Ensuring that all relevant communications are sent to learners in a timely manner, working towards set service level agreements (SLAs). This includes responding to all queries from learners in a timely and professional manner, allocating tasks to action owners and following up to ensure completion.
• Ensuring that participants complete any relevant online courses before attending virtual training sessions.
• Ensuring that all virtual learning courses and assessments are launched to maximum capacity.
• Liaising with the assessment Moderation team to communicate any conflicts of interests, candidates re-sitting the assessment centre, and / or requests for reasonable adjustments
• Ensuring that all virtual courses are fully resourced with appropriate facilitators.
• Ensuring that the virtual classrooms/ assessments are booked, created and relaying any additional requirements, including reasonable learning adjustments, to the moderators and/or assessors.
• Managing the Service Desk (mailbox), responding to all queries from learners in a timely and professional manner allocating tasks to action owners and following up to ensure completion.
• Providing on-call day management for ADCs. These are live full day events and colleagues are required to support multiple events every week.
• Ad-hoc administrative tasks including support in arranging meetings, room bookings, updating training materials and document control.
• Support for additional service areas as and when

Person specification

Essential criteria

Successful candidates will:

• Have experience working within the Operational Delivery profession
• Have excellent organisation and prioritisation skills, good attention to detail and be able to multi-task and work across multiple activities.
• Be a strong communicator, with excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Be able to establish and maintain good relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Have the ability to work both collaboratively and independently.
• Experience in a Customer Service role: be able to remain calm under pressure, and problem-solve in order to ensure a quality customer experience, often in a completely virtual environment.
• Previous experience of either working on or awareness of a Learning Management System and Query Management platform.
• Experience in a range of Microsoft IT packages including Word, Teams, Excel and PowerPoint

Desirable criteria

• Ability to work with data and to conduct reporting and analysis.
• Previous experience of working within the learning and development field, specifically training and/or assessment planning

Additional information:

A minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace. Although requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Managing a Quality Service

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £29,727, Cabinet Office contributes £8,611 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role.
• An environment with flexible working options.
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.
• A Civil Service Pension which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and employer contributions of 28.97%.
• A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by one day per year up to a maximum of 30.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Application process

At application you will be required to provide the evidence from your skills and experience. Individuals will be selected for interview based on scores from the completing the following sections:

- A CV. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

- A personal statement detailing how you meet the essential experience criteria (500 words max).

- Written evidence of the lead criteria of Managing a Quality Service for this role (250 words maximum). Please make your examples as relevant as possible to the role

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be undertaken using the lead Behaviour - Managing a Quality Service. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

During theinterview you will be assessed against your:

- Experience

A question directly linked to your skills and experience in relation to the job description.

- 4 Key Behaviours

Managing a Quality Service

Working Together

Delivering at Pace

Making Effective Decisions

Expected timeline (subject to change)
Expected sift date –15/12/2025
Expected interview date/s – W/C 05/01/2026
Interview location - Your interview will either be conducted face to face or by video. You will be notified of the location if you are selected for an interview.

Reasonable adjustments
If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Government Recruitment Service via cabinetofficerecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Further information

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'contact point for applicants' section.

Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.

Any move to Cabinet Office from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.

This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.

A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.

Current Civil Servants (all contract types) will need to ensure that they are still employed as a civil servant at the point of starting in the relevant new post. If their contract ends (e.g. end of FTA contract or resignation) at any point during the recruitment/on-boarding process for the advertised role, they will no longer be eligible and may be withdrawn.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

Existing Civil Servants and applicants from accredited NDPBs are eligible to apply, but will only be considered on loan basis (Civil Servants) or secondment (accredited NDPBs). Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return.

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Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Hannahh Braden
• Email : hannah.braden@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : cabinetofficerecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles.
If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and wish to make a complaint, then in the first instance you should contact Government Recruitment Service at: cabinetofficerecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.
If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission at: info@csc.gov.uk.
For further information on the Recruitment Principles, and bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission, please visit their website at: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk.

Attachments

2025-02-19 CO job advert terms and conditions - across government Opens in new window (docx, 59kB)Cabinet Office Employee Offer (1) Opens in new window (pdf, 344kB)